Ian Dunlop
is a teenage boy who lives on a secluded farm, loves old military movies
and his
grandmother, the only living member of his family and the only one who truly
understands him. You see, Ian would like to be like any other teenager,
wondering whether he should ask a certain girl out, worrying about whether what
he is wearing makes him look cool or not, worrying about what to study for his
finals at school. But Ian isn't like every teenager - every time he looks in
the mirror, he sees a different person.

For years,
Ian thought he was crazy, avoiding looking into anything that could show his
reflection and reveal the unrecognizable. But then Gran died and Ian's world
changed. The papers Gran left behind revealed that Ian wasn't crazy...that he
was the product of gene-splicing
experimentation. When he looked in the mirror,
he wasn't imagining changes in his appearance - they were real.

Gran took
care of everything for Ian, protecting him from anyone who might want to harm
him. Now he was going to have to do it alone. Deciding to follow up on one of
the people Gran said he could trust to protect him, Ian delivers information
about the experiment that helped bring him into this world to a online conspiracy theory magazine. Unfortunately, that idea backfires, placing Ian in
great danger. The leader of a growing scientific firm believes that Ian's
abilities were engineered in his labs
and he wants his "property" back at all
costs.

Thanks to a
powerful senator, Ian's safety rests in the hands of Mike, the senator's son
whose integrity has led him down a different path than his politically based
father, and his work partner and friend Rob, a former Royal Marine
who struggles
with civilian life. Together Mike and Rob make a formidable team, but what can
they do for a teenager who can't control his morphing
abilities, yet wants to be a normal
productive member of society? And how can they help him in that
category and keep him safe at the same time?

When I first
started reading Going Grey, I wondered just how any of these characters
fit together. You are first introduced to this teen who can't look at his own
reflection for fear that he won't recognize what he sees. Then you meet Rob, a
Royal Marine about to be discharged who saves the life of an American mercenary
named Mike. Now, I could see how Rob and Mike would become friends and how,
when Rob struggles with civilian life in England, they could become more than
just friends, but where did Ian fit in. But then Gran dies and you realize just
what Ian is and what kind of protection he is going to need to help keep his
secret as well as his very existence safe.

But this
isn't just one of your science fiction novel featuring a character who can morph
at will and a bunch of shoot 'em up action and adventure. There is more to
Going Grey than that. There are some really intriguing themes here. Each of
the main characters have a struggle with identity
- Ian for the more obvious
reasons, but even Rob and Mike struggle to figure out just who they really are.
Rob has been a soldier
most of his life. To have to retire
and become a
civilian is heartbreaking for a man who needs a sense of purpose in life. He
doesn't just want to be a mercenary - he hates the ugly connotation of the word
- he wants his jobs to have a meaning and a moralistic integrity
making what he
does something he can live with, free of guilt. Mike wants to be a father, but
he is not quite sure just how to go about it until Ian shows up. It's sort of a
trial by fire and Mike really isn't certain he is up for the task...just what
kind of father can he really be?

Then there
is the scientific debate
regarding bioengineering. Is it okay to tamper with
genes to create a sort of superhuman? Is it okay to play with unborn embryos,
mixing human genes with that of octopi or other such animals to create a desired
trait in humans? Would you do it to save mankind from a disease? Or would it
be okay just to create an army of super soldiers to protect your country against
invasion? Where do the moral and ethical boundaries
lay?

Karen
Traviss has a way of making the reader care for her characters. She also has a
way of giving characters, whose descriptions remind you of someone you would
normally cross the street to get away from, some of the best moral and ethical
traits, making them complex and incredibly interesting. It's the guys in the
well-pressed suits with all the best intentions posted on the surface that turn
out to be the basest of bad guys in Traviss' novels. The ones who look like
rugged, evil-doers are actually the good guys, while the clean cut types are the
ones you have to watch out for. I love that about Traviss' novels.

I also loved
the name of the book. Going Grey is not a very straight forward title.
You have to read into the novel at some length...or have some idea of covert
ops...to know just what it means: to blend in with the surroundings so much as
to be unnoticeable. It's something that Ian is going to have to work very hard
on if he wants to survive.

Going
Grey was a terrific reading experience - an engaging story that didn't seem
all that farfetched, characters you could get invested in, moral and ethical
issues that are cause for conversation around the dinner table or in your own
very special reading circle, and some bits of action and adventure to boot.
Going Grey has everything a thinking sci-fi fan could ever want out of a
novel. I can't wait to read the next book in the Ringer series!